Open channel communication system

ABSTRACT

Described is an open communication system. The system includes a server having a memory storing user data and a first user computing device coupled to the server. The server may be programmed to allow multiple user computing devices to connect to the server and the server determines if the user computing devices are within a predetermined proximity to each other and whether the same communication channel is selected. All of the user computing devices that have selected the same communication channel and are within the predetermined proximity to each may be connected in an open communication link that allows the connected user to communicate. The system may include the option of establishing and invite particular users to a private or less used channel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Applicationto Charles Isgar entitled “OPEN CHANNEL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” Ser. No.62/882,694, filed Aug. 5, 2019, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated entirely herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field

This invention generally relates to a system for communication, and morespecifically to a system for anonymous open communication.

State of the Art

There are several instances where an individual may have a desire tocommunicate with another individual that is within a certain proximityto the individual. For example, on a road trip, in a line or in othercircumstances when people like to communicate. Further, many peopleenjoy getting to know new people but lack the confidence to get to knowsomeone when they have to interact face-to-face or in othercircumstances wherein the individual may not feel safe. There lacks asystem that allows users to communicate with each other anonymously.

Accordingly, what is needed is a system for anonymous open communicationbetween users within proximity to each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment includes an open communication system comprising: a serverhaving a memory storing user data; and a first user computing devicecoupled to the server, wherein the server is programmed to: receive asignal from the first user computing device that has accessed thesystem, wherein the signal includes user data having locationinformation of the first user computing device; process the user datafrom the first user computing device and determine all other usercomputing devices within a predetermined proximity of the first usercomputing device and accessing the system; receive a signal from thefirst user computing device having channel data in response to a channelselected on the first user computing device through a user interfacedisplayed on the first user computing device; and process the channeldata and establish an open communication channel between user computingdevices of all the other user computing devices that have selected thesame channel.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following moreparticular description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived byreferring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer tosimilar items throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 a diagrammatic view of an open communication system according toan embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of instructions executed by a server of an opencommunication system;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of user computing devices within vehiclesoperating an open communication system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of user computing devices within trucksoperating an open communication system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is view of a user interface of operating on a user computingdevice of an open communication system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a user computing device and anadjustment of the predetermined proximity distance around a user deviceaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a view of a user computing device depicting a dynamicallycreated channel by the open communication system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 8A is a view of a user computing device with a microphone devicecoupled to the user computing device according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 8B is a view of a user computing device with a microphone devicewirelessly coupled to the user computing device according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a system for anonymousopen communication that is a modern-day alternative to the opencommunication enjoyed by CB radio users. The system may include the useof a mobile application operating on a user computing device that may bea mobile computing device like a smartphone, a tablet, a wearable, andthe like; and/or the system may operate on any type of computing deviceas a downloadable application or even as a web application.

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a social communication system 10. Thesystem 10 may include user computing devices 12 and a server 14, whereineach user computing device 12 is coupled to the computer server 14. Thiscoupling may be a network connection, such as a wireless connectionthrough an Internet connection, a Wi-Fi connection, a Bluetoothconnection or the like, wherein the user computing devices 12 maycommunicate with and receive communication from the server 14. The usercomputing device 12 may include a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet,a smartphone, wearable devices and the like. The server 14, in someembodiments, may be a computer server or a cloud-based infrastructurearchitecture.

The server 14 may include a memory storing user data. The memory of theserver 14 may store user data, such as a user name, a password, andprofile information. Further, user data may include a dynamic orupdateable set of information such as location of the user computingdevice 12. It will be understood that in operation of the system 10, allof the users are anonymous, wherein no identifying information isprovided to other users of the system 10 regarding any of the usersutilizing the system 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, the user computing device 12 may be a first usercomputing device 12 that is coupled to the server 14, and, the server 14may be programmed to: receive a signal from the first user computingdevice that has accessed the system (Step 20), wherein the signalincludes user data having location information of the user computingdevice; process the user data from the first user computing device anddetermine all other user computing devices within a predeterminedproximity of the user computing device and accessing the system (Step21); receive, from the first user computing device, a signal havingchannel data in response to a channel selected on the first usercomputing device through a user interface displayed on the first usercomputing device (Step 22); and process the channel data and establishan open communication channel between user computing devices of all theother user computing devices that have selected the same channel (Step23). The channels that may be selected may include, without limitation,a trucking channel, a traffic channel, a weather channel, and a teenchannel, as depicted in FIG. 5, or may include other channels, such as asite-seeing channel, a sports channel, a good food channel and the like.

Step 22 of receiving the channel data from the first user computingdevice 12 may include the first user computing device 12 automaticallysending the channel data to the server 14 in response to selecting achannel, such as selecting a soft button with the desired channel nameas shown in FIG. 5. This sends the specific channel data to the serverand the server 14 may then determine all of the user computing deviceswithin proximity of the first user computing device that are on theselected channel and establish an open communication channel with all ofthe user computing devices within proximity and on that channel. Thismay include opening another communication node in the establishedcommunication channel that connects the first user computing device 12to the channel.

The open communication channel operates to allow all users withinproximity and with the selected channel to communicate with each other,either by voice, text, multimedia and combinations thereof. Also, asusers may be in motion, the total number of users may adjust by otherscoming within and others leaving the predetermined proximity to eachother. In other words, as a user is in motion with his or her usercomputing device 12, other users in the ecosystem of the opencommunication system 10 continuously enter a user's preferred zone ofproximity and leave the user's preferred zone of proximity, therebycreating a dynamic ecosystem that may be continuously changing withusers being added and removed from the channel of communication.

The predetermined proximity of the user computing devices may be anydistance established by the system. In other embodiments, thepredetermined distance is between 3 and 20 miles. In embodiments, usersmay adjust the proximity distance in order to engage more or fewer usersdepending on the users' preferences, as shown in FIG. 6. Further still,the system may automatically adjust the proximity distance based ondensity of users within the current proximity in order to reduce or addmore users as determined by the system. In some embodiments, the numberof users on a particular channel may be limited.

In some embodiments, users can define or create their own channels. Forexample, and without limitation, a user may create a private channel oruser-created topical open channels. The private channel may be used toinvite certain users onto the private channel and continue aconversation. A user-created topical channel may be on a topic ofinterest to the user. For example, and without limitation, a user maycreate a channel related to Home Town College that is travelling to anaway game at Superstar State University. The channel may be called HomeTown College Channel, wherein users affiliated with Home Town Collegemay communicate on the user-created topical channel named Home TownCollege Channel as they travel to Superstar State University.

Further still, in some embodiments, the system 10 may include the server14 that stores detailed user information, such as age, address, collegename, political affiliation or preference, sports team preferences,hobbies, and so forth. The system 10 may then automatically anddynamically create topical channels in response to processing the userdata of the users accessing the system within the predeterminedproximity distance. The processing of the user data may result infinding groups of users with similar profile elements and creatingchannels in real time related to the commonality between user profilesand sending the real-time created channels to the user devices relatedto that topical channel, or alternatively can make the real-time createdchannels available to all users. In some embodiments, there may be anestablished threshold number of users with common profile data withinproximity of each other before a channel is automatically and in realtime created. For example, FIG. 7 depicts a dynamically created channelnamed “FISH TALK” wherein the user profiles included users that hadfishing in common and the channel was created in real time, allowingusers to select the real-time created channel and talk about fish and/orfishing.

It will also be understood that embodiments of the system 10 may employnatural language processing or similar technology to analyze discussionsof users of the system. In these embodiments, the system may identifycertain key words or phrases as provided to the system in theprogramming or in a database. When the system utilizes the naturallanguage processing to identify the keywords or phrases being discussedby users the system may process the keywords and associate the keywordswith a user profile in the stored user data or may ask the user if he orshe would like to add that keyword to his or her user data. Thesekeywords may then be utilized as topic for the creation of real timechannels as discussed above.

The system 10 may also aggregate the data of conversation topics usingnatural language processing and further may aggregate the data ofchannel usage.

Additionally, in some embodiments the system 10 may provide or createhosted channels. For example, and without limitation, the system 10 maycreate a hosted channel for a state, such as Kansas, wherein the hostedKansas channel includes a hosted user that may be a knowledgeable personabout Kansas, an expert on a certain topic that may relate to Kansas oris simply a topic of great interest based on aggregated data, acelebrity or the like. The hosted channel may have a staticpredetermined proximity or a defined area wherein users that move intoand out of the predefined area can access the channel when moving in andthen are removed from the channel when moving out of the predefinedarea. Further still, embodiments may include a system that can allowusers to pay for more specialized communication access to an expert,celebrity or the like on a hosted channel, such as paying for a smallergroup of users or for a one-on-one conversation using the system 10.

FIG. 3 depicts various vehicles that are engaged in the system, whereinseveral of the users are within a traffic jam and a car on the roadheading a different direction is on an open road. The users may beutilizing a traffic channel in order to give and receive informationregarding reasons for the traffic jam and the like, or to haveconversation to pass time while in the traffic jam. FIG. 4 depicts aseries of tucks wherein the truckers are engaged in conversation on aparticular channel, such as the trucking channel. The system may be usedto promote safety and share road information.

In operation, some embodiments may include a user interface whereinthere is an automatic mute of the user computing device to reduce thebackground noise of those using the system. In these embodiments, thesystem may require a key in, such as a tactile key in by pressing a softbutton on the user computing device or the like, or a verbal hey infeature wherein the user can activate the user computing device to speakor otherwise communicate by utilizing a preset phrase, term or the like.This allows users that merely desire to listen to conversation to beable to do so without creating additional background noise.Additionally, as depicted in FIGS. 8A and 8B the system may include ahandset hardware that may include a microphone and an activation button,much like a CB radio handset. The handset hardware may be wiredconnected (see FIG. 8A) or wirelessly connected (See FIG. 8B) to theuser computing device. This allows the user to depress the activationbutton to speak into the microphone to communicate through the system 10and provides the user with a CB experience using the system 10.

Embodiments may be available on or through the internet, such as throughdomain names reserved and owned by Applicant that include CBclone.com,CB-talk.com, CB-chat.com, CB-time.com or the like.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wire-line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object-oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, cloud-based infrastructurearchitecture, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps tobe performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or otherdevices to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order tobest explain the present invention and its practical application and tothereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use theinvention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat the foregoing description and examples have been presented for thepurposes of illustration and example only. The description as set forthis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the teachings above without departing from the spirit andscope of the forthcoming claims.

1. An open communication system comprising: a server having a memorystoring user data; a first user computing device coupled to the server;and a plurality of other user computing devices coupled to the server,wherein the server is programmed to: receive a signal from the firstuser computing device that has accessed the system, wherein the signalincludes user data having location information of the first usercomputing device; process the user data from the first user computingdevice and determine all of the plurality of other user computingdevices within a predetermined proximity of the first user computingdevice and accessing the system; receive a signal from the first usercomputing device having channel data in response to a channel selectedon the first user computing device through a user interface displayed onthe first user computing device; and process the channel data andestablish an open communication channel between user computing devicesof the plurality of other user computing devices that have selected thesame open communication channel and the first user computing device. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the open communication channel isselected from the group consisting of a trucking channel, a trafficchannel, a weather channel, a teen channel, a site-seeing channel, asports channel, and a food channel.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein acommunication through the open communication channel is selected fromthe group consisting of voice, text, multimedia, and combinationsthereof.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the total number of theplurality of other user communication devices located within thepredetermined proximity of the first user computing device and havingselected the open communication channel decreases as any of theplurality of other user communication devices within the predeterminedproximity of the first user computing device having selected the opencommunication channel moves farther away from the first user computingdevice than the predetermined proximity, and increases as any of theplurality of other user communication devices farther away from thefirst user computing device than the predetermined proximity havingselected the open communication channel moves to within thepredetermined proximity of the first user computing device, dynamically.5. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further programmed toallow a user of the first user computing device to create a privatechannel, wherein the user of the first user computing device may inviteat least one user of any of the plurality of other user computingdevices having selected the open communication channel to select theprivate channel, thereby establishing private communication between theuser of the first user computing device and the at least one user of anyof the plurality of other user computing devices through the privatechannel.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is furtherprogrammed to allow a user of the first user computing device to createa user-created topical channel, wherein the open communication channelis the user-created topical channel.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe user data includes a user name, a password, and profile informationcorresponding to each user computing device accessing the system,respectively.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the user datacorresponding to each of the first user computing device and any of theplurality of other user computing devices is maintained confidentialfrom all other user computing devices.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe profile information is selected from the group consisting of age,address, college name, political affiliation, political preference,hobbies, and any combination thereof.
 10. The system of claim 9, whereinthe server is further programmed to automatically and dynamically createa topical channel based on the profile information in response toprocessing the user data of the users of user computing devicesaccessing the system within the predetermined proximity of the firstuser computing device and make the topical channel dynamically availableto only those user computing devices located within the predeterminedproximity of the first user computing device whose corresponding userprofile information matches the user profile information upon whichcreation of the topical channel is based.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the server creates the topical channel only when a minimumnumber of user computing devices, whose corresponding user profileinformation matches the user profile information upon which creation ofthe topical channel is based, is located within the predeterminedproximity of the first user computing device.
 12. The system of claim10, wherein the server is further programmed to employ natural languageprocessing to analyze discussions of the user of the first usercomputing device to identify keywords used in the discussions; processthe keywords; prompt the user of the first user computing device tochoose whether the server should associate the keywords with the userprofile information; associate the keywords with the user profileinformation in response to an affirmative choice of the user; and createa custom topical channel based on the keywords.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the server is further programmed to aggregate conversationtopic data using the natural language processing.
 14. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the server is further programmed to aggregate channelusage data.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the selected opencommunication channel is a hosted channel based on a topic, wherein auser of one of the user computing devices having selected the hostedchannel is a host.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein access to thehosted channel by selection of the hosted channel is restricted to apredetermined number of user computing devices.
 17. The system of claim1, wherein the user interface includes a mute function, wherein amicrophone of the first user computing device may turned on and off byuser input to the first user computing device.
 18. The system of claim17, wherein the user interface comprises a handset hardware coupled tothe first user computing device, the handset hardware comprising themicrophone and an activation button, wherein the microphone is turned onin response to the user pressing the activation button and themicrophone is turned off in response to the user releasing theactivation button.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the handsethardware is coupled to the first user computing device by a wiredconnection.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the handset hardware iswirelessly coupled to the first user computing device.